If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Is Linux losing popularity?!

07-21-2010, 01:40 PM

When Ubuntu came it was a breath of fresh air. It brought many new Linux users. However, even as an ardent Debian user, I find the latest Google Trend curve for "Ubuntu" quite a bit disturbing - http://www.google.com/trends?q=ubuntu

What is happening?! From the graph it seems the positive Ubuntu effect (which is positive for all Linux users) is not only dying off, but also decreasing. What could be the reason? Is it a general trend for Linux? Brrr... Or is something else?

I am not saying that Linux i going away, just that the general awareness (hype) may be slowing down. Maybe that is good, in one sense, sort of - to get rid of unfounded hype.

But, since there are new developers entering the market every day, perhaps with a different mindset than 30+ developers have, I think this is worrying. They may think of Linux as that complicated geek layer underneath Android...

Their audience appears to be highly more likely to use Linux than other parts of society. I think Google Trends is more neutral in that respect, even if actual web server logs are the way to go. It would be nice to see those of http://www.ebay.com/ or some other non-techie neutral site. The Alexa Audience Demographics make it look fairly neutral (http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ebay.com).

On the other hand, there is always www.top500.org if these numbers mskr you feel a bit down.